Oklahoma State University Athletics
Friday, March 9
Stillwater, OK
4:00 PM
Oklahoma State University
vs
Eastern Michigan
Peyton Battenfield
Cowboy Baseball Opens Seven-Game Homestand
March 08, 2018 | Cowboy Baseball
Game Notes
ÂOklahoma State (7-4) vs. Eastern Michigan (3-9)
Fri., March 9/4 p.m. • Sat., March 10/2 p.m. • Sun., March 11/1 p.m.
Allie P. Reynolds Stadium (4,000) • Stillwater, Okla.
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  Video/TV: okstate.com/live (OSUAthletics YouTube)
  Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM/780 AM/pete 94.3 FM/okstate.com/watch
        (Rex Holt & Matt Davis)
  Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/okstate/baseball
 Twitter In-Game Updates: @OSUBaseball
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Friday: Cowboys and Carhartts - This is the last game we are giving away the OSU Carhartt jackets each inning
Saturday: • Inflatables - We will set up inflatables in the outfield area during pregame and the first half of the game (weather pending - if it rains or is too windy we will not have the inflatables up)
                • Mini Bat Giveaway - We will be giving away 500 OSU mini bats
Sunday: • Coffee with the Cowboys - We will be giving away 300 coffee mugs and coffee vouchers to fans as they enter the stadium
               • Signature Sunday -The Cowboys will be signing autographs after the game
About Oklahoma State
    • Coming off road wins at Missouri State and Arizona State, Oklahoma State is 7-4 on the season and opens a seven-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series against Eastern Michigan.Â
    • OSU is coming off a 2017 season in which it made its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and finished 30-27 overall. The Cowboys went 8-14 in conference play a year ago to finish eighth in the standings but made history when they became the first-ever team to win the Big 12 Championship title as a No. 8 seed; OSU swept through the tourney field with a 4-0 mark.
    • The Cowboys return six position players who started at least 30 games last season, while nine pitchers who combined for 16 wins return to the staff.
    • The 2018 season marks OSU's sixth under head coach Josh Holliday, who has compiled a 207-110 record at his alma mater.
About Eastern Michigan
    • Eastern Michigan is 3-9 on the season, with all three of its victories coming in its last five games.
    • Led by junior shortstop Max Schuemann (.404, 3 HR, 8 RBI, NCAA-best 12 SB) and redshirt freshman outfielder Jeff Timko (.400, 12 RBI), the Eagles are hitting .306 as a team, and they rank third nationally with 38 stolen bases.
    • EMU's pitching staff sports a collective 7.45 ERA.
    • Eric Roof was named EMU's interim head coach in January. He replaced Mark Van Ameyde, who left the program in December after three seasons.
    • EMU's starting pitching rotation vs. the Cowboys is expected to be:
    Friday: RHP Davis Feldman — 0-2, 5.71 ERA in three starts; 8 K, 10 BB in 17.1 IP
    Saturday: RHP Jackson Shaver — 0-0, 4.61 ERA in three appearances (two starts); 8 K, 1 BB in 13.2 IP
    Sunday: RHP Luke DeVenney — 1-0, 3.94 ERA in three starts; 10 K, 7 BB in 16.0 IP
Cowboys vs. Eagles
    Oklahoma State is 7-1 in the all-time series against Eastern Michigan, but the two teams have not met since the opening weekend of the 2004 season.
    Previous Meetings
    2004 - EMU 5, OSU 3; OSU 5, EMU 2; OSU 11, EMU 1 (Stillwater)  Â
    1985 - OSU 7, MSU 6; OSU 7, MSU 6 (Lakeland, Fla.)  Â
    1982 - OSU 13, EMU 2; OSU 3, EMU 2; OSU 1, EMU 0 (Lakeland, Fla.)
Home Sweet Home
    Allie P. Reynolds Stadium has been home to Oklahoma State baseball since April 4, 1981, and in those 37 seasons, the Cowboys have been nearly unbeatable on their home field.Â
    OSU is 917-230 (.800) all time at Reynolds Stadium and has lost more than two consecutive games on its home turf only eight times (six in a row in 2007; five straight in 2017; four in a row in 2016; three straight in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017).
    The Cowboys are 3-1 on their home field in 2018.
On The Road Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and...
    As has become commonplace, OSU will open Big 12 Conference play on the road in 2018. The Cowboys have begun league play at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium only twice since 2003 (in 2005 and 2013), with 13 road trips to start conference action during that span.
    Since the start of Big 12 Conference baseball in 1997, the Cowboys will have opened league play on the road 17 times and just six times in Stillwater.
Building A Winner
    In the first five seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Josh Holliday built quite an impressive resume. Among the highlights:
    • The Cowboys have earned five NCAA Regional berths, advanced to two Super Regionals and played in the College World Series for the first time since Holliday was a senior for the Cowboys in 1999.
    • OSU finished first or second in the Big 12 Conference standings each season from 2013-16.
    • The Cowboys finished in the top 10 in the national rankings in 2014 (10th) and 2016 (4th) after ending the 2013 season ranked as high as No. 19. In 2015, they were ranked as high as 17th in the final polls
    • In 2014, OSU won its first-ever Big 12 Conference regular season championship, and the 2017 club captured the second Big 12 Championship title in program history.
    • OSU hosted NCAA Regionals in 2014 and 2015 and was the top-seeded team both times.
    • Holliday has coached 42 All-Big 12 performers, six All-Americans, two Big 12 Pitcher of the Year honorees and a Big 12 Player of the Year.
Close Calls
    OSU is 52-32 in one-run games under Josh Holliday, and 53 of the Cowboys' 110 losses under Holliday have come by two runs or less.
    In 2017, 13 of OSU's 22 conference games were decided by two runs or less; the Cowboys were 4-9 in those games with six one-run defeats and three two-run setbacks.
Comeback Cowboys
    Come-from-behind victories have been a trend for the Cowboys under Josh Holliday; OSU has overcome deficits to win 84 games in Holliday's six seasons.
Year   Come-From-Behind Wins
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 18
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 9
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 11
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4
Tank Smash
    Colin Simpson, aka "Tank", enjoyed a breakout sophomore season for the Cowboys in 2017. The catcher/DH collected honorable mention All-Big 12 honors and led OSU with 11 home runs while ranking third in RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.492).
    Simpson did the majority of his damage against Big 12 competition as in 22 conference games he hit .272 with seven homers and 23 RBIs — no other Cowboy had more than two homers or 19 RBIs in league play. During one stretch, Simpson went deep in four-straight Big 12 contests, including smacking two homers vs. West Virginia on April 2.
    Simpson was named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team after hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two doubles, two homers and five RBIs in four tourney games.
    Off to a strong start in 2018, Simpson is hitting a team-high .333 and also leads OSU in hits (14), doubles (5), homers (3), RBIs (10), total bases (28) and slugging percentage (.667). He has started all 11 games for the Cowboys — nine at catcher, one in left field and one as DH.
An All-American Streak
    The Cowboys have had a player earn first-team All-American status in each of the last four years. The streak began with pitcher Brendan McCurry (2014), who was followed by pitchers Michael Freeman (2015) and Thomas Hatch (2016). Outfielder Garrett McCain extended the streak in 2017.
    OSU has had 25 different players earn first-team All-America status in program history.
Outfield Veteran
    A constant in Josh Holliday's lineup card over the last three seasons has been outfielder Jon Littell. The senior is by far the Cowboys' most experienced player, having appeared in 146 games, and his 134 starts is 60 more than the next closest player on the OSU roster.
    Littell has experience at both corner outfield spots as he's started 86 games in left field and 48 in right field in his career.Â
    At the plate, Littell caught fire in OSU's 2017 run to the College World Series as he was OSU's second-leading hitter in the NCAA tourney with a .379 batting average (11-for-29) in nine games. He carried that into 2017, where he was hitting over .300 with three homers and 21 RBIs before suffering injuries in an outfield collision at TCU on March 26 and missing nine games; the injuries lingered throughout the remainder of the season.
    Littell showed a penchant for clutch hitting in 2017 as he hit .306 (15-for-49) with runners in scoring position while 16 of his 28 RBIs came with two outs.
Teel Time
    Carson Teel joined the OSU program as a walk-on in 2015 and spent that season redshirting for his hometown team. Since then, Teel has flourished into a scholarship player with a significant role in the Cowboys' pitching rotation.
    In 2017, the southpaw led OSU with 28 appearances, 25 of those in relief, and topped the Pokes with a 3.06 ERA and three saves while ranking second on the pitching staff in wins (5) and strikeouts (77).
    In OSU's run to the Big 12 Championship title, Teel appeared in all four games, striking out 10 and allowing only one run in 8.1 innings out of the bullpen.
    Teel was a 27th-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in last June's MLB Draft but put a professional career on hold to return for his junior season.Â
    In six appearances this season, Teel has matched his save output of a year ago with three, a total that is tied for second in the Big 12 and ranks among the national leaders. He earned his first win of the season with a career-high 7 1/3 innings of work against Arizona State, and his 1.98 ERA ranks seventh in the Big 12.
RPI Talk
    The latest official NCAA RPI (games through March 7) has OSU at No. 78; Eastern Michigan checks in at 105.
    Texas Tech is No. 1 in the RPI, while other Big 12 teams currently ahead of the Cowboys are Baylor (58) and Kansas State (66).
Players Mentioned
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/ Cowboy Baseball
OF
/ Cowboy Baseball
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/ Cowboy Baseball
LHP
/ Cowboy Baseball No videos available.
